Canopy structure for play yard

ABSTRACT

A canopy structure for a play yard includes a pair of base docks to couple with a canvas bracket, which is adjustable angularly. Each base dock has a pair of claws to clamp the upper frame of the play yard to facilitate installation and storage. The turnable canvas bracket may be adjusted angularly to respond to alterations of sunlight direction to achieve an improved shading effect.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The invention relates to a canopy structure for a play yard, and particularly a structure that has a base dock to engage with a canvas bracket and a claw to couple with the upper frame of a play yard to facilitate installation and removing, and provide improved shading through the canvas bracket which is adjustable angularly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Play yards mainly provide a safe playing space for infants or babies to protect them from exposure to danger when their parents are not around. When used outdoors, play yards that are not foldable have to be disassembled for transportation and assembled again for use. This is quite troublesome. Hence many parents prefer play yards that are constructed by movable joints and rods so that they can be easily extended and folded to make transporting by car easier. The foldable play yard disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,437 is a typical example. However, when used outdoors, the play yard and the infant in the play yard are exposed to sunshine, which could be very irritating or even harmful to the infant. Hence play yards equipped with canopies were developed. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,548 discloses a play yard system and canopy that has a canopy coupled to a play yard structure to provide shade. However, its canopy is not foldable. Assembly is troublesome and storage is difficult. Moreover, its fixed canopy structure forms a constant shading angle and cannot be adjusted to block the sunshine projecting in different angles at different times. The whole play yard has to be moved frequently to avoid direct sunshine. Its shading effectiveness and practicality are unsatisfactory.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] In view of the foregoing disadvantages, the primary object of the invention is to provide a canopy structure for an outdoor play yard that has a detachable canopy to protect the infant in the play yard from exposure to sunshine.

[0004] Another object of the invention is to provide a pair of coupling base docks to connect the canopy structure so that the canopy structure may be selectively mounted onto the frame of the play yard to block sunshine when in use, and removed easily when not in use to facilitate folding and storage of the play yard.

[0005] A further object of the invention is to provide a canvas bracket that includes a bracket seat, a pivotal hub and a plurality of supporting rods. The pivotal hub couples with the supporting rod and is pivotally engaged with the bracket seat such that the canvas bracket may be turned about the bracket seat to fold and unfold to facilitate storage without being removed from the base dock.

[0006] Yet another object of the invention is to adjust the angle of the canvas bracket by turning the pivotal hub to provide desired shading according to change in the sunshine projecting angle to block unwanted sunshine effectively.

[0007] The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the frame of the play yard of the invention;

[0009]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the play yard of the invention;

[0010]FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the frame of the play yard in a folding condition;

[0011]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the canopy structure of the invention;

[0012]FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the canopy structure of the invention;

[0013]FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an embodiment of the invention;

[0014]FIG. 7 is a schematic view of another embodiment of the invention; and

[0015]FIG. 8 is a schematic view of yet another embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0016] Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the canopy structure for a play yard of the invention mainly includes a detachable canopy structure l mounted onto a foldable play yard 2. The foldable play yard 2 mainly includes an upper frame 21, a lower frame 22, corner posts 23 and fabric 24.

[0017] The upper frame 21 is mainly a rectangular framework including connection docks 3, a plurality of upper bars 4 and folding joints 5. The connection docks 3 are located at the four corners of the upper frame 21, each being pivotally engaged with one end of the upper bar 4. The upper bar 4 has another end pivotally engaging with the folding joint 5 so that the upper frame 21 may be extended or folded by latching or releasing the folding joints 5 (as shown in FIG. 4).

[0018] The lower frame 22 is a rectangular framework including pedestals 6, a plurality of lower bars 7 and center a center joint 9. The lower bars 7 are engaged respectively and pivotally with the pedestals 6 and the center joint 9. The center joint 9 controls the folding and extension of the lower frame 22.

[0019] The corner post 23 connects to the connection dock 3 of the upper frame 21 and the pedestal 6 of the lower frame 22. The fabric 24 couples with the upper frame 21 and the lower frame 22 to form a housing compartment 8 for accommodating the infant. The folding joints 5 of the upper frame 21 and the center joint 9 of the lower frame 21 may be latched and released to allow the play yard 2 to be extended (as shown in FIG. 1) or folded (as shown in FIG. 3).

[0020] Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the canopy structure 1 includes a pair of base docks 11, a pair of canvas brackets 12 and the canopy fabric 13. Each base dock 11 has two sides extending to form a claw 111, which forms a clamping trough 112 therein. The base dock 11 has a top surface 113 extending to form an anchor dock 114, which has two sides forming an anchor trough 115.

[0021] The canvas bracket 12 includes a pair of bracket seats 121, pivotal hubs 122 and a plurality of supporting rods 123. The pivotal hubs 122 couple with the supporting rods 123 and are pivotally engaged with the bracket seat 121. The canopy fabric 13 covers the supporting rods 123 and may be extended and folded when the pivotal hubs 122 turn about the pivotal axis.

[0022] In addition, the bracket seat 121 has two bottom sides to form a pair of opposing latch flanges 124 to couple with the anchor trough 115 of the base dock 11 so that the bracket seat 121 may be coupled on the base dock 11 for anchoring. The canvas bracket 12 may then be freely removed from or mounted onto the base dock.

[0023] By means of the construction set forth above, the canvas bracket 12 is mounted onto the base dock 11. When in use, the claw 111 is coupled with the two opposing sides of the upper frame 21 of the play yard 2. The canopy fabric 13 may be extended to block sunshine by turning the pivotal hubs 122. When not in use, the canopy bracket 12 may be removed, or the base dock 11 and the canopy bracket 12 may be removed together.

[0024] By means of the embodiment set forth above, it is clear that the invention is easy to install and store. Also, the shading angle of the canopy may be adjusted to respond to different angles of sunshine.

[0025] While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiment of the invention as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A canopy structure for a playyard being detachably coupled with a frame of the playyard, comprising at least: a pair of base docks each having a claw to couple with the frame of the playyard for anchoring; a pair of canvas brackets mountable onto the base docks; and a canopy fabric coupling with the canvas brackets and being foldable or extendable to form a canopy.
 2. The canopy structure for a playyard of claim 1, wherein the playyard includes an upper frame, a lower frame, corner posts and a fabric, the upper frame including a plurality of upper bars and joints coupling with each other, the lower frame including a plurality of lower bars, the upper frame and the lower frame being bridged by the corner posts, the fabric being coupled with the upper frame and the lower frame to form a housing compartment for accommodating infants.
 3. The canopy structure for a playyard of claim 1, wherein the base dock has an upper surface connecting to an anchor dock.
 4. The canopy structure for a playyard of claim 3, wherein the anchor dock has two sides each forming an anchor trough.
 5. The canopy structure for a playyard of claim 1, wherein the canvas bracket includes a bracket seat, pivotal hubs, a canopy fabric and a plurality of supporting rods, the pivotal hubs being coupled with the supporting rods and pivotally engaged with the bracket seat, the bracket seat being detachably mounted onto the base dock.
 6. The canopy structure for a playyard of claim 5, wherein the canopy fabric is supported by the supporting rods for extension, the supporting rods being turnable about the pivotal axis to adjust the extension angle of the canopy fabric.
 7. The canopy structure for a playyard of claim 5, wherein the bracket seat has two bottom sides to form a pair of opposing latch flanges to couple with the anchor trough of the base dock. 